tidbits on eves of eve

this place is too new to summarize the year's posts as so many other sites are doing, but it's worth listing the most interesting stories these past two weeks. happy new year!

a rare portrait of amanda burden, NYC's planning director - illuminates the complexity of pulling projects through to completion, especially in a place like new york. ms. burden's focus on aesthetics seems to be more about uses, comfort, image, rather than pure design aesthtics. legend has it that she interned at PPS back in the day.

a survey on what happened after iconic buildings are built. this is all too rarely done. from this survey - which is still relatively short-term given the newness of the buildings, in balance, it seems that the designer buildings are worth the brand recognition for drawing crowds, but fall short of meeting demands of building function. a similar tale is starting to unfold across the country with the Caltrans building in LA. it's still early yet, and the good-faith effort to correct flaws is a step in the right direction. management of the building is now the highest priority. there are more icons to come.

from the midwest, infilling with people, offering land for free. the story makes it sound like a desperate situation, though it's really an re-education of townspeoples in what works for little communities, and from the sound of it, the strategy is working.

a smarter way to deal with the word choice problem that accompanies "smart growth" - "dumb growth"?